This movie probably deserves a 6, but I gave it a 7 because it gave me
so much pleasure. It is far from a great movie. If it began as a play,
I could well believe it: it is, indeed, very talky. And, unlike in Les
Perles de la couronne, which is much better and much funnier, there are
long speeches. Granted, Guitry delivers them at breakneck speed and yet
with total clarity, leaving you astounded, as if you were at the Opera
and the soprano had just finished a passage of brilliant fioratura at
breakneck speed, with all the notes faultless. It is a bravura
performance on his part - hey, he wrote his own lines, and in this
movie he gave himself all the good ones - and the other roles are in
his shadow. So it is very much worth watching him perform, strange hair
and all. He delivers his lines magnificently. But the plot, what little
there is, is obvious, the characters not interesting. Pauline Delubac
is radiantly beautiful, but she doesn't get much to do in this movie.
One feels that she is wasted.

I suppose one could say, to use an over-used metaphor, that it is like
a soufflé. Delicious, but basically a puff pastry that leaves little
once it has been consumed.

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